Various control arrangements have been developed to control earthmoving devices, such as bulldozers, so that a tract of land can be graded to a desired level or contour. A number of systems have been developed in which the position of the earthmoving apparatus is determined with a laser, GPS or optically referenced positioning system. In such systems, a tract of land is surveyed and a site plan is designed with the desired finish contour. From the tract survey and the site plan, a cut-fill map is produced showing amounts of cut or fill needed in specific areas of the tract of land to produce the desired finish contour. The information is then stored in the computer control system on the earthmoving apparatus.
In one type of control system for earthmoving apparatus, a position reference receiver, such as a laser receiver, is mounted on a mast that extends upward from the cutting blade. The laser receiver intercepts a reference beam of laser light that is projected from a transmitter and that rotates in a plane above the tract of land. The beam provides vertical reference position information to the machine control system. The x and y position information may be determined by other reference beams, by a GPS system, or by other navigation techniques. The vertical intercept point of the laser beam on the laser receiver, which is indicative of elevation of the cutting blade, is provided to the computer control system. The control system has stored the length of the mast on which the receiver is mounted. In an automatic mode, the control system calculates the elevation error of the grading implement based on the cut-fill map and the detected planar position of the apparatus. In another type of control system for earthmoving apparatus, a GPS receiver antenna is carried on a mast which extends upward from the cutting blade. In this type of system, the GPS receiver determines the vertical position information for the machine control system, as well as the x and y position information.
An inclinometer is mounted on the cutting blade to provide an indication of the inclination of the blade along its length. Since the mast extends upward from the blade, the inclinometer also provides an indication of the tilt of the mast away from true vertical. It will be appreciated that the measured distance from the laser beam to the cutting edge of the blade or from the GPS antenna to the cutting edged of the blade can be multiplied by the cosine of this tilt angle to compensate for the tilted mast and to provide an indication of the actual vertical displacement between the laser beam or the GPS antenna and the cutting edge of the blade. The inclinometer may also be used, either alone or in combination with a laser-based system, a GPS-based system, or a system that has both laser and GPS measurement devices, to control the inclination of the blade or to monitor the inclination of the blade.
Inclinometers of this type are gravity based and, although typically damped to reduce noise from high frequency vibration, are subject to error due to acceleration experience during operation of the machine. More specifically, when a machine such as a bulldozer makes a turn as it is moving at a relatively rapid speed, the inclinometer will provide an erroneous output, indicating that the blade is inclined at an angle that differs significantly from the actual orientation of the blade. This erroneous output will have a deleterious effect upon the operation of the machine. If the machine is the type in which a height sensor is carried on a mast attached to the blade, the system will compute an erroneous blade height. This will be displayed, and, if the system is operating in an automatic mode, may cause the blade to be lowered erroneously. If the inclinometer output is being used to display or control blade inclination, an error in the display or the control as to blade orientation will also occur.
It is seen that there is a need, therefore, for an earthmoving system and method having a bulldozer or other earthmoving machine and including a control in which compensation is made for inaccuracies in the cutting blade position or orientation that would otherwise result from rapidly turning the bulldozer.